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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. WRIGHT.

MACHINERY FOR PRINTING FLOOR GLOTHS, &c.

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(No Model.) I 3 Sheets-Sheet a.

J. WRIGHT.

I MACHINERY FOR PRINTING FLOOR GLOTHS, 8w.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WRIGHT, OF KIRKCALDY,

COUNTY OF FIFE, SCOTLAND.

MACHINERY FCR PRINTING FLOOR-CLOTHS, 80C,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 389,995, datedSeptember 25, 1888.

Application filed June 21, 1857. Serial No. 242,016. (No model.)Patented in England June 12', 1884, No. 8,881.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN WRIGHT, a subject of the Queen of Great Britainand Ireland, and a resident of Kirkcaldy, county of 5 Fife, Scotland,have invented certain Improvements in Machinery for PrintingFloor-Cloths and other Fabrics, (for which I have obtained a Britishpatent dated June 12, 1884,, No. 8,881,) of which the following is aspecification.

My said invention has for its objects to improve the arrangements anddetails of machinery for printing floor-cloths and other fabrics,whereby the machinery is made to operate more satisfactorily andadvantageously.

Rollers with raised printing-surfaces are used in the machinery to whichmy invention relates, and an entire piece of the fabric to be printed isstretched on a large cylinder or drum, which is of a width correspondingto the width of the fabric. The printing-rollers are of a lengthcorresponding to a fourth or other convenient aliquot part of the widthof the fabric and drum, and they are carried on a frame which is movedacross the width of the drum after printing each part of the width ofthe fabric.

The frame carrying the printing-rollers, with their accessories, isfitted to slide upon a horizontal bench, and one important part of thepresent invention consists in combining two or more large drums in onemachine with a single printing-roller frame and a bench on which thisframe can be moved from one drum to the other. With this arrangement,while the printing-rollers are operating on a piece of fabric on onedrum, a printed piece can be removed from another drum and a freshunprinted piece be placed thereon, thereby effecting a considerablesaving of time.

The other improvements comprised in the present invention will be mostreadily understood with the aid of explanatory drawings, of which twosheets are hereunto appended.

Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of the drawings is a front elevation, and Fig. 2 onSheet 2 is an end elevation. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 illustrate the stoppingdetails on a larger scale.

The large drums, of which there are two, D D in the example delineated,are carried on shafts 3, which are-separate but in the same horizontalline, and the drums are driven by separate gearing, consisting in eachcase of a pinion, 4, gearing with an internally-toothed ring on one endof the drum. Each pinion at is fast on a shaft, 5, having on it fast andloose pulleys 6, for a driving-belt from a pulley on a first-motionshaft,7. Each drum D D is made with a recess, 8, at one part of itscircumference, and this recess, instead of being quite narrow, asformerly, is made somewhat greater in extent than the space occupied bythe printing-rollers P, in order to give more convenient access to theserollers and to allow of their being moved across without being drawnback.

At each end of the recess 8 there is a roller, 9, for holding andtightening the fabric, each roller 9 being armed with projecting pointsto take hold of the fabric, and, as it is of small diameter, beingsupported by intermediate bearings, 10, while at its ends it hasratchetwheels and pawls for holding it after turning it to stretch thefabric. The fabric when being put on the cylinders D D as usual, isdrawn from a roll and passed round a roller (neither of which is shown,but which may be as described in my British patent, No. 2, 749 of 1870)which can be pressed by screws against the cylinder, so that the fabricmaybe laid with a compressing rolling action upon the cylinder-surface.

The printing-rollers P, of which there are six in the exampledelineated, but which may be varied in number in different machines,arecarried by a movable frame, F, consisting of side standards, 11,connected by tie-rods and bolted down upon 'a sole, 12, which is fittedlike a lathe slide or saddle to slide upon a horizontal bench, 13,extending in frontof the two drums D D The frame F is moved by means ofa rack, 14, fixed along the middle of the bench, there gearing with therack apinion on a shaft, 15, carried by the frame F and driven bybevel-wheels 16 from a longitudinal shaft, 17, the bevel-wheel on whichis fitted with a feather and groove to move along the shaft with theframe. The shaft 17 has at each end fast and loose pulleys 18 for adriving-belt from a pulley on the first-motion shaft 7, and hand-gearing19 is fitted in connection with the shaft 15, carried by the frame F,for moving this frame by hand when required.

In my improved arrangements for driving the printing-rollers P aframe-piece, 20, fixed by means of studs to one of the side pieces, 11,of the frame F, is formed with bearings for short spindles opposite theends of the rollers P, and on the outer ends of these spindles there aretoothed or sprocket wheels 21,which are driven by means of apitch-chain,22. (Indicated by a peculiarly-dotted line in Fig. 2.) This pitch chain22 passes round various guide-pulleys, 23 24, and is driven by a toothedor sprocket wheel, 25, which is movable with the frame F along a shaft,26, and is fitted to the shaft with a groove and feather. The shaft 26has at each end of it a pinion, 27, gearing with a spur-wheel, 28, on ashaft, 29, which has also on it a pinion, 30, gearing with the toothedring of the drum 1) D", and with these arrangements the shaft 26, andthrough it the printing-rollers P, are driven from whichever of the twodrums the printing'rollers are operating on. Engaging and disengagingclutches (not shown in the drawings) are provided for putting thedifferent parts of the gearing into or out of action, as required.

The toothed or sprocket wheels 21, driven by the pitch-chain 22, are notfast on their spindles, but are adjustable thereon by means of the usualwornrwheel and tangent-screw device for securing the proper registeringof the patterns of the different rollers, and the spindles have fast ontheir inner ends disks or arms with pins 31 for acting on arms on thespindles of the printing-rollers P, this arrangement allowing of theadjustment of the printing-rollers more or less near the surface of thedrum or fabric. The printing-rollers P are carried and adjusted in theordinary way, and have in connection with them the usual acces soryparts for supplying color or paint, these accessories being partly shownin the drawings in connection with the top printing-roller, but supposedto be removed in the cases of the other printing-rollers.

When either of the drums D D" is in motion and the fabric on it is beingprinted, the motions are automatically stopped on a turn of the drumbeing completed, the drum being then brought into the position in whichit is shown in Fig. 2. The stopping details at the inner end or face ofthe drum are shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, and indicated by dotted linesin Fig. 2, and comprise a pin, 32, fixed in the drum,which acts on alever, 33, centered on a stationary horizontal axis. The lever 33 is ina vertical position when the pin 32 begins to act on it, and is turnedover until (when the drum starts again) the pin can pass over the end ofit. The lower arm of the lever 33 is connected by a link to a horizontalbell-crank, 34, centered on a vertical pin, the other arm of thisbell-crank being connected to a-horizontal rod, 35, which can move inthe direction of its length, (parallel to the axis of the drums.) At apart of the rod 35 there is a depression,36, Figs. 1, 3, and5,which,when the rod is moved through the action of the drumpin 32 onthe lever 33, comes under a weighted lever, 37, previously supported bythe rod, and this weighted lever 37 thus becomes free to descend aslight distance. In thus descend ing the weighted lever 37, by an arm,38, on the other side of its fulcrum, lifts up a frictional brake, 39,against the outer surface of the toothed ring of the drum and assists inbringing the drum to rest. At the same time the rod 35, by means of afork, 40, shifts the driving-belt from the fast to the loose pulley 6 onthe shaft 5, which drives the drum. For starting either drum againhand-levers are arranged in convenient positions and act upon the rod 35through suitable connections,which are not shown.

Between each turn of the drum (excepting when it is considered necessaryto make the printing-rollers act more than once on each part of thefabric) the frame F is moved along the bench 13, so that theprinting-rollers may operate on a fresh part of the cloth. In Fig. ltheframe F is shown as about midway between its second and third positionsand as moving toward the right hand. The move ment of the frame F isstarted by means of a hand-lever, but is stopped automatically on theframe reaching its next position. For this purpose the fork 41, whichmoves the drivingbelt from the fast to the loose pulley 18, is fixed ona rocking shaft, 42, which has also fixed on it a lever, 43, connectedto a rod, 44-, which is placed in guides under the front edge of thesole 12 of the frame F. Arms 45 are fixed on the rod 44 at proper pointsand are in the way of a projection, 46, formed or fixed on the underside of the sole 12, so that as the frame F moves along the projection46 encounters one of the arms 45, and through it moves the rod 44, so asto cause the shifting of the drivingbelt from the fast to the loosepulley 18. When the frame F reaches its proper position, aweightedcatch, 47, jointed to it engages in a hole provided for thepurpose in the top of the bench'guide and prevents the frame from movingfarther. On the frame F having to be moved again, the catch 47 has to beraised and the rod 44 has to be turned by means of a hand-lever, 48, totake the arm 45 out of the way of the projection 46.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is- 1. In machinery for printingfloor-cloths and other fabrics, a set of printing-rollers carried by aframe consisting of standards on a sole movable on a guide-bench bymeans of a rack, pinion, and bevel-wheels, or by handgearing, intodifferent positions, in combination with two or more large drums drivenby pinions gearing with internally-toothed rings on the drums, each drumbeing made with a recess of somewhat greater extent than the spaceoccupied by the set of printing-rollers, substantially as and for thepurposes herein set forth.

2. The drivinggearing for the drums D I), consisting of a shaft, 5, withfast and loose pul- IIO leys 6 and pinions 4, gearing withinternallytoothed rings on one end of each drum, in combination with theautomatic stopping details, comprising a pin, 32, acting on a lever, 33,the lower arm of which is connected bya link to a bell-crank connectedto a movable rod, 35, made with a depression, 36, into which a weightedlever, 37, can descend and by an arm, 38, lift a frictional brake, 39,against the drum, and a fork, 40, on the rod 35 to shift thedriving-belt, substantially as herein set forth.

3. The combination of parts for moving the printing-roller frame, andconsisting of a rack, 14, fixed to the bench l3 and gearing with apinion on a shaft, 15, driven by bevel-wheels 16 from a shaft, 17,fitted with fast and loose pulleys l8, and hand-gearing 19, incombination with the automatic stopping details, comprising a rockingshaft, 42, having on it a fork, 41, and a lever, 43, connected to a rod,44, made with arms 45, to act on a prothe endless pitch-chain 22,passing round the wheels 21 and guide-pulleys 23 24, and driven 0 by amovable wheel, 25, on ashaft, 26, having at each end a pinion, 27,gearing with a spurwheel, 28, on a shaft, 29, also having apinion. 30,gearing with the toothed ring of one of the drums, substantially as andfor the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN WRIG HT.

Witnesses:

EDMUND HUNT, DAVID FERGUSON.

